BATON ROUGE – It was the first week of January in 2005, and Dameyune Craig did not have a job. So the former Auburn quarterback decided to throw deep.

He had worked as a graduate assistant in 2004 under LSU coach Nick Saban, but Saban had just started a new job as head coach of the Miami Dolphins. So Craig entered the office of the new LSU coach — Les Miles — with a plan.

“Listen, I’ll stay if you want to make me full time,” said Craig, which was bold since he had exactly one season of experience helping Saban, defensive coordinator Will Muschamp and defensive backs coach Kirby Smart with the defensive backs — a position he had never played.

Miles didn’t bite.

“You are going to have to give me some time here to make a decision. I need to wait and get my staff together,” Miles said.

“Ok, I guess I’m going to Miami,” Craig said.

Craig and fellow LSU graduate assistant James Coley (now the wide receivers coach at Georgia under Smart) then drove 14 hours to Miami and walked into Saban’s office unannounced and without a job.

“We just showed up,” Craig said. “We drove 14 hours and walked into coach Saban’s office. And we worked for free for about three days, and then he hired us. Just walked in. Just like I walked into coach Miles’ office. Not going to lack confidence now, I’m going to tell you that right now. That’s one thing I don’t lack. Nothing wrong with being told no. So, if you don’t try, you will never ever know.”

On Wednesday afternoon in the same LSU athletic administration building in which Craig did not get hired by Miles, Miles announced Craig as his new wide receivers coach.

“I told him 15 minutes ago it just takes me a little bit of time to come around to do what I want to do,” Miles said at a press conference that also introduced new running backs coach Jabbar Juluke.

Craig, who played four seasons as a backup quarterback with the Carolina Panthers from 1998-01 after his Auburn career ended in 1997, comes to LSU from Auburn, where he was co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach from 2013-15. After serving as a special teams assistant for Saban and the Dolphins in 2005, Craig was the quarterbacks coach at Tuskegee University outside Auburn in 2006 and ’07 before coaching wide receivers at South Alabama in his hometown of Mobile in 2008 and ’09.

In 2010, new Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher hired Craig to be his quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator. Fisher was Craig’s quarterbacks coach at Auburn and got him to LSU when he was LSU’s offensive coordinator under Saban from 2000-04. Craig remained there until his alma mater called.

Craig did not feel he was a part of the offensive mix at Auburn. And he had clashed at times with the other co-offensive coordinator, Rhett Lashlee, who is closer to Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, having coached with Malzahn at Springdale High in Arkansas in 2004-05, at Arkansas in 2006, at Auburn in 2009-10, at Arkansas State in 2012 and at Auburn again since 2013. So Craig looked elsewhere.

“It was nothing against my university or coach Malzahn,” Craig said. “There wasn’t any animosity. I really enjoyed my time there. I learned a lot. Coach Malzahn was a great individual to work for. I still own property in Auburn. It’s a great place to raise a family.”

Craig, 42, has a wife and two sons.

“Auburn has great fans. They have a passion for what they do. I wouldn’t trade my time there for the world,” he said. “But sometimes in life where you see yourself going and where you need to be and where you’re at at the time, sometimes you’re going to have to make decisions based on your ultimate goal. And so, that was a decision based on what I want to do going forward – my future. I know I want to be a head coach.”

For now, Craig, who holds the Auburn record for yards (3,227) and completions (216) in a season set in 1997, will work with LSU’s wide receivers and will help with starting quarterback Brandon Harris and other quarterbacks “when asked,” he said.

“He’s a quarterback by nature. He knows every position on the field. He coached under Jimbo Fisher,” said Miles, who kept Fisher as his offensive coordinator in 2005 and ’06 after replacing Saban. “Jimbo is a great coach and mentor. Dameyune comes from the SEC. When you play quarterback, you know every play and know what all 11 guys are doing on that play. That kind of knowledge makes for great coaches.”

Craig became known as an excellent recruiter at Florida State and at Auburn and will recruit the Florida panhandle, his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, as well as parts of Louisiana.

Two of Craig’s best games at Auburn came in Louisiana. He completed 23 of 45 passes for 342 yards and two touchdowns and directed the last-minute, game winning drive to beat LSU, 31-28, on September 20, 1997, in Tiger Stadium. He completed 24 of 40 passes for 372 yards and rushed for 75 yards in a 32-29 win over Army in the 1996 Independence Bowl in Shreveport. Craig’s 447 yards in that game remains an Auburn record.

“I really love this atmosphere at LSU,” Craig said. “I loved coming here and playing. Great fans. They’re passionate about what they’re doing. It’s difficult to win here. The fans make it really, really hard. I’m focused on winning a championship here. I really want to win a championship.”